Tag: Craig Reynolds

NFL adopts a smart bylaw change to eliminate roster chicanery

NFL adopts a smart bylaw change to eliminate roster chicanery at the 53-man roster cutdowns, allowing players to be placed on IR earlier

The NFL smartly approved a bylaw change to the way the initial 53-man roster gets constructed at the end of the preseason. Proposed by the Lions, the new rule will eliminate some of the roster chicanery that teams have been forced to do.

In the past, players who were injured during the preseason or training camp had to make the initial 53-man roster before they could be placed on injured reserve. If they weren’t on that initial roster, they were ineligible to come back in the season; being placed on IR before the season effectively meant the season was over for that player with that team.

That procedural method led to some chaos every summer, with teams cutting veterans with the explicit purpose of creating a place on the 53-man roster for a player they were going to place on injured reserve. The Lions did this last August with Craig Reynolds; they released the running back in order to open a roster spot for Julian Okwara, who was subsequently placed on injured reserve immediately after making the roster. Reynolds was re-signed as soon as Okwara’s move to IR was processed, as was the plan the whole time.

The new rule allows teams to avoid this sort of roster sleight of hand. During the final roster reduction to 53 players, teams can move up to two players to injured reserve while maintaining their eligibility to return during the season.

This is a smart change, one that will prevent the task of having to tell a player who made the 53-man roster that he’s got to suddenly be unemployed for a couple of days because one of his teammates is injured.

Lions make free agency tender offer to RB Craig Reynolds

Lions make free agency tender offer to RB Craig Reynolds, keeping the back in Detroit for another year

Craig Reynolds is back in Detroit for another year, and so is the entire running back room from the start of the 2023 season.

The Lions made the required tender offer to Reynolds, a restricted free agent. Reynolds, now 27, will earn the league minimum of $985,000 in 2024. It will be fourth with the Lions and sixth in the NFL, but he didn’t play enough in the first three years of his career to earn an accrued season in the NFL’s eyes. He played in all 17 games in 2023 as the team’s No. 3 running back and on special teams.

Reynolds’ return pairs with the decision to re-sign Zonovan Knight, who was the No. 4 RB before suffering an injury against the Panthers. Longtime practice squad member Jermar Jefferson is also still in the den on a future/reserve contract, too.

That would seem to limit the Lions’ interest in spending any appreciable assets on adding to the running back stable.

Craig Reynolds scores on fourth down for Lions

A Dan Campbell gamble paid off for the Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions have a lot of offensive talent. When discussing it, Craig Reynolds’ name doesn’t usually come up.

However, on Sunday in the Divisional Round against the Bucs at Ford Field, Reynolds was given the ball by Jared Goff on fourth down in the third quarter from the one.

Reynolds plowed into the end zone and after the PAT, Detroit led 17-10.

Reynolds had all of 41 carries in the regular season, although 10 came in the game against Tampa Bay for 15 yards.

He had no stats in the Wild Card win over the Rams.

Earlier in the drive, another uncommon name Brock Wright took a pass for 30 yards. Wright had 13 catches in the regular season and none in the Wild Card win.

Craig Reynolds was the best RB at facing stacked defensive boxes in Week 8

Craig Reynolds was the best RB at facing stacked defensive boxes in Week 8

Jahmyr Gibbs earned a ton of praise for his breakout performance in the Detroit Lions win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 8. The rookie ran for 152 yards and a touchdown in Detroit’s 26-14 victory on Monday Night Football.

Gibbs wasn’t the only Lions running back who had a great game against the Raiders. Craig Reynolds also thrived in his own right, in his own way. No running back did more against stacked defensive boxes in Week 8 than Reynolds. According to the data tracking from Next Gen Stats, Reynolds ran for a lot more yards than was expected while facing seven or more defenders in the box.

From Zebra Technologies Week 8 recap,

Craig Reynolds was the only RB that faced a stacked box on 25.0% or more of his carries (35.71%) and generated +5 or more RYOE (+20). For reference, there were 13 other qualified RBs that hit that stacked box threshold this week.

Given the game context, it’s even more impressive for Reynolds. The Lions played without their entire starting interior offensive line and finished the game with backup-to-the-backups’-backup playing left guard.

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Film Review: Jahmyr Gibbs has best game of his career against the Raiders

Film Review: Lions rookie RB Jahmyr Gibbs has best game of his career against the Raiders

When the Detroit Lions selected running back Jahmyr Gibbs with the 12th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, it was no secret that the expectations were going to be high. Much like most first-round picks, those expectations tend to get put on players right away. Especially for running backs…

So far this season, Gibbs has been very consistent as a pass-catcher. He’s got 28 receptions on 33 targets that’s resulted in 165 yards. Against the Ravens, Gibbs was one of the lone bright spots for the Lions offense. He had 11 carries for 68 yards and a touchdown. However, it’s felt like for some time that Gibbs was due for a breakout performance.

On Monday night football against the Raiders, he had that breakout performance. Against the Raiders, he had 26 carries for 152 yards and a touchdown. In addition to that, he had five receptions for 37 yards. He is showing that he can be a bell cow back; everything is pointing up for Gibbs and the Lions’ offense. Let’s jump into the tape from Monday night to showcase some of the best runs from Jahmyr Gibbs!

Starting with the play above, the Lions come out in a trips left formation but it’s a condensed set. As the center and left guard pull to the play-side, Gibbs takes the delayed hand-off from Jared Goff. In these tight areas, Gibbs shows quick feet, good burst and the ability to follow his blockers through the hole. Had he not got tripped up by the safety coming downhill, there’s a chance he would have taken this one to the end zone.

Moving to the next play, the play above was one of my favorite carries from Gibbs on Monday night. He shows terrific start-and-stop ability on this run. As he takes the hand-off from Goff, the original hole he was supposed to run through closes quickly. He bounces this run to the outside and shows terrific burst to hit the next opening. With great vision, effort and burst, Gibbs was able to make something out of nothing with this run.

Lastly, I want to cover the touchdown from Gibbs. It’s a perfect run, and it sums him up as the type of playmaker he can be for this Lions offense. On the play above, the Lions come out in 12 personnel and run a simple inside zone run.

As Gibbs takes the hand-off, he sees a defender pressing the line-of-scrimmage but he’s also able to see the slightest opening to his right. With a simple lateral cut, Gibbs cuts up-field and forces the initial defender to miss the tackle at the line-of-scrimmage. Getting through the opening, Gibbs has the explosiveness and burst to make defenders look silly. He does just that and once he makes another defender miss in the open field, he’s off to the races.

It was a career night for Gibbs with the 152 yards on the ground and the 37 yards through the air. He forced 11 missed tackles against the Raiders and 102 of his rushing yards came after contact.

As the Lions are on their bye week, Gibbs will get a much-needed break. However, I’d hope that he gets paired back up with David Montgomery in this Detroit backfield. Regardless, this type of performance should give the Lions and their fans reassurance that Gibbs can absolutely be one of the most dynamic weapons in the NFL.

Lions Week 7 injury update: The RBs remain a sore point

Lions Week 7 injury update: The RBs remain a sore point in Thursday’s practice session

The Detroit Lions were back at a full practice on Thursday after getting an unexpected walkthrough only on Wednesday. Well, some of the Lions team was practicing in full.

The practice participation report from Thursday’s session remains quite concerning at running back. Lead back David Montgomery remains out with the rib injury he suffered in the Week 6 win over the Buccaneers. His primary backup, Crag Reynolds, and speedy rookie back Jahmyr Gibbs, were both listed as limited. Reynolds is dealing with a toe and a hamstring, while Gibbs is still no fully recovered from the hamstring injury that has cost him the last two games.

On a more positive front, left guard Jonah Jackson was the only other Lions player completely held out of practice. Jackson has not practiced since injuring his ankle in the Week 5 win over Carolina. It does not look promising for either Montgomery or Jackson to play on Sunday in Baltimore, though the final injury designations come out on Friday.

Rookies Brian Branch (ankle) and Sam LaPorta (calf) were among eight players who were limited participants. The only new name on the limited list is backup QB Teddy Bridgewater, now listed with a knee injury. Center Frank Ragnow was back as a full participant after being designated as limited with his toe injury for Wednesday’s walkthrough.

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Fantasy Football: 15 waiver wire targets for NFL Week 7

49ers running back Jordan Mason highlights this week’s list of the top waiver wire targets in fantasy football.

We’re drawing closer to the midway point of the 2023 NFL season and injuries are starting to pile up, particularly at running back.

In San Francisco, star 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey suffered an oblique injury on Sunday. If CMC has to miss any games, Jordan Mason and Elijah Mitchell will presumably be the next men up in San Fran’s backfield.

In Detroit, David Montgomery suffered a ribs injury in Week 6 that will leave him sidelined for “a little bit.” Jahmyr Gibbs would be the obvious choice to replace Montgomery, but he’s currently dealing with a hamstring injury. That might leave Craig Reynolds as the team’s top running back in Week 7.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers both suffered injuries on Sunday. That leaves rookie Zach Evans as the team’s top remaining RB.

To help fantasy football managers attempt to improve their rosters going into Week 7, we’ve put together a quick list of the 15 best waiver wire targets with options at running back, wide receiver, quarterback and tight end.

Each player’s rostered percentage in ESPN fantasy football leagues is listed in parentheses. Ready? Let’s get to the list!

Lions snap count notes vs. Buccaneers: Dan Campbell rode his starters to victory

Lions snap count notes vs. Buccaneers: Dan Campbell rode his starters to victory, playing reserves less than normal on both sides

The Detroit Lions improved to 5-1 with Sunday’s 20-6 win in Tampa Bay, and they got the victory by leaning heavily on the starting lineup, especially on offense.

Head coach Dan Campbell shortened the bench on offense in the win. Some of that was injury-related necessity. With regular starting guards Jonah Jackson and Halapoulivaaati Vaitai unable to start, the starting five playing the whole way was a necessity. All five played all 70 offensive snaps, as did QB Jared Goff.

The other key starters played very high percentages of the game. Amon-Ra St. Brown was on the field for over 90 percent (64 of 70), followed closely by Josh Reynolds (57) at wide receiver. Rookie TE Sam LaPorta repped on 58 snaps, with Brock Wright in for 43 as the Lions leaned heavily into using two TEs against the Bucs’ impressive defensive front.

The reserves didn’t get much action. Jameson Williams caught his two passes on just 16 snaps, which is one more than Kalif Raymond got on offense. David Montgomery’s injury after 18 snaps thrust Craig Reynolds (43) and Devine Ozigbo (6) into more action than expected. Dan Skipper played four reps as an extra tackle in his first game back on the active roster.

On defense, 17 players saw action for Detroit. Five never left the field, playing all 56 snaps: DBs Kerby Joseph, Tracy Walker, Jerry Jacobs, Cam Sutton and LB Alex Anzalone.

DE Aidan Hutchinson crept back up over 85 percent usage again, playing 50 reps. John Cominsky played a season-high 43 snaps, out-repping Charles Harris (18), Levi Onwuzurike (11) and Romeo Okwara (9) combined in the No. 2 DE role.

The Lions split playing a third LB and a fifth DB pretty evenly. Will Harris was the No. 5 DB and played 39 snaps, with no other CBs or safeties seeing action. Jack Campbell was the third LB at 29 snaps.

Vaitai did play, but only on special teams. He was one of 11 Lions to appear strictly on special teams. Notable again amongst the 11: linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez, his second straight game no seeing any action on defense.

Lions backup RB Craig Reynolds’ monster block on an Amon-Ra St. Brown TD sums up Detroit’s toughness

Craig Reynolds made the block of the YEAR!

There are a few hallmarks of every well-coached, tough NFL team. Their cornerbacks are active and productive in run support as tacklers. Their offensive linemen are excellent in space, especially when pulling. And their receivers and general skill players sell out, giving full effort when blocking for their teammates in the open field.

According to this summation, Dan Campbell’s Detroit Lions are a very well-coached and very tough team. Heck, backup running back Craig Reynolds exemplified it to perfection on Sunday.

With Detroit trying to build a late first-half road lead against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown found himself with green grass on a basic third-and-long short pass. When he tried to cut to the sideline, a gaggle of Buccaneers defenders awaited him. The person in most danger of making a tackle was cornerback Carlton Davis.

That is before Reynolds — again, the backup to an injured David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs — sent him to the moon with a colossal block. Phew:

Even while Detroit improved to 5-1 with a 20-6 win, seemingly small sequences like this shouldn’t be forgotten. Campbell has created a strong culture for the boys in Honolulu Blue, and it’s why they’re off to their best start in six decades.

It’s also why they’re one of the NFC’s top teams in the first place. This Detroit train isn’t stopping any time soon.

Watch: Craig Reynolds lays a massive block to get Amon-Ra St. Brown a touchdown

Lions RB Craig Reynolds with a highlight-reel block to get Amon-Ra St. Brown a touchdown

Offense was tough to come by in the first half of the Detroit Lions visit to Tampa Bay against the Buccaneers. Someone needed to light a spark and change the dynamic.

Enter Craig Reynolds.

The Lions running back made a phenomenal, effective, high-effort block that sprung wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown for the game’s first touchdown. Reynolds hustled from way out of the play to steamroll two Buccaneers defenders and clear a path up the right sideline for St. Brown to score.

This is grit personified from No. 13: